EU seeks €140B for Ukraine — two funding options on the table

European leaders will meet this Thursday, November 13, to consider two main mechanisms for providing a major financial aid package to Ukraine. The discussion will focus on allocating €130–140 billion from frozen Russian assets.

This was reported by Reuters.

What EU finance ministers are considering

The first — and more likely — option involves using frozen Russian assets. Under this mechanism, the European Union would replace the Russian funds held at the Belgian depository Euroclear with zero-coupon AAA bonds issued by the European Commission. The resulting funds would then be transferred to Ukraine.

According to this plan, Kyiv would repay the credit only if it receives war reparations from Russia.

However, this proposal is currently blocked by Belgium, which fears potential financial liability if Russia launches legal proceedings over the confiscation of its assets. Brussels insists that other EU member states must guarantee repayment within three days should Moscow win in court.

The alternative option is a joint financial loan shared among all EU members. Still, this path is far less appealing to most countries, as it would increase public debt levels in many already heavily indebted economies.

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